The present disclosure is related to the field of infant care. More specifically, the present disclosure is related to systems and apparatus for providing a microenvironment for an infant.
Prematurely born infants require specialized treatment and care due to their small size and still-developing organs and physiological systems. Thus, premature infants are placed in devices that create a carefully controlled microenvironment around the patient.
One type of device is generally referred to as an incubator in which the patient is placed within a physical enclosure and the temperature within the enclosure is carefully controlled with convective heating provided by a forced flow of heated air into the enclosure.
Another device is called a radiant warmer. The radiant warmer has an overhead canopy with calrod heating elements that produce radiant heat that is directed downward onto the patient.
Hybrid systems that incorporate both convective heating systems and radiant heating systems are also provided.
While the microenvironment includes temperature regulation, some microenvironments may also encompass more than thermal regulation. These microenvironments may include an oxygen enriched environment or humidity control.